Any Cost
by DarkWatersWithin
Summary: Danny would do anything to protect Grace, but so would the rest of his team regardless of the cost and it's Chin being put to the test while the others scramble to figure out what happened and find him before there's nothing left of him to find. Chin Whump! No Slash. No schmoop or smut.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alrighty folks here's chapter one! I hope you like it it's my first Five-O story I've written(but not my first fanfic!) Let me know what ya think!**

Chapter 1

Chin loved the wind in his hair as he rumbled on his bike down the highway. He was out on a joy ride to start off his Saturday morning. It felt good to let loose for a bit. Their case load had been intense with both frequency and malice. There had been a string of kidnapped children and mothers but only the children were found alive, along with a string of arsons that had racked up a body count fast. Despite ending on a good note, a coke bust nearly two hundred million worth, he was ready for a bit of relief. He was going to hit up a bank then crash on the beach for the day. Do some surfing, nap in the sun, get some shrimp jambalaya at KameKona's shrimp truck. It was going to be gloriously pointless. Half an hour passed before he started to think about getting the petty cash and hitting the beach but someone walking alongside the road where they didn't belong caught his attention. He swooped his bike in front of the walker and cut his engine.

"Grace what're you doing out here?"

"Aloha Uncle Chin!"

"Don't aloha me, what're you walking the side of the highway for? Where does Rachel or Danny think you are?" He dismounted the bike and steered her further from the roadside and began to fish out his phone to call Danny.

"No don't call Danno please!" She pleaded grabbing his elbow.

"Why? Where were you going Grace?"

"I wanted to go to the bank. Momma thinks I'm with a friend at the beach."

"The bank? Why do you need to go to the bank?"

"I wanted to by Danno a present so I needed money." She held up a bank card which had Rachel's name on it. Chin grinned and scrubbed his face.

"Grace you can't take your mom's card and run off somewhere without telling anyone. Let's go I'll take you back to your mom's."

"No please, Momma won't let me buy it for him. She says it's too expensive."

"Well what is it you want to get him?" Grace fished through her backpack and pulled out a magazine.

"I want to get him this." Chin checked the magazine ad and grinned.

"He'd love to get this from you. How about I make you a deal."

"A deal?"

"I'll help get this ordered and then we go back to your Mom's and we tell her about this little trip." She chewed her lip and looked guilty.

"Do we have to tell Mom?"

"Yes, we do Grace." He dug through the bag at the back of his bike and pulled out a spare helmet and plunked it on her head. She sighed in defeat. It was a short ride to the surf board shop. The shop owner gave him a glance as Grace went up with the credit card and began describing her order. He gave a nod and the shop keep proceeded without hesitation. Chin couldn't help but feel all fuzzy inside listening to her custom surf board order. It was common knowledge that Danny had learned to surf for her so they could do it together. From what he could hear of the design Grace knew her father very well; It was a New York Pizza style surf board. Except for signing the credit card receipt he let the eight year old do the purchase all on her own. Kids liked independence like that and her beaming grin afterwards was certainly worth the big price for the custom board. That smile alone was enough for him to understand how Danny was so unsavably smitten. She had him wrapped around her finger and it was worth it.

"Thank you Uncle Chin!" His ribs crushed under her hug, surprisingly tight for a small girl.

"Yeah don't thank me yet. I need to drop by the bank around the corner then I'm taking you back to Rachel and then we're _both_ grounded."

"You're going to be in trouble too?"

"There is no limit to a mother's wrath." He declared ignoring her perplexed look as he cinched down the helmet tighter. It had been fit perfectly before but better to have over protection then just the right amount when they pulled up to Rachel's. He doubted she'd be much too happy seeing her escaped daughter pull up on a motorcycle, especially when they didn't come straight back. They were about to take off to the bank when Grace's cell phone buzzed. They were unsurprised to see it was her mother.

"What do I say?" She questioned. He sighed and took the phone answering it.

"Hello Rachel, this is Chin Ho Kelly. No she's fine she's with me...yeah I found her walking along the highway..." Grace fidgeted sitting on the bike until the phone was held out to her. "Talk" This time it was Chin to fidget while Grace got a clear reaming. He couldn't hear the exact words but it was a long lecture. A while later she handed the phone back to him.

"She wants to talk to you again." Chin cringed.

"Yes? Of course, no that's find, I understand, no it's no trouble. Aloha." He hung up and handed the phone back to Grace.

"Are you in big trouble?" She picked at a loose string in the leather.

"No, actually your mother has appointments all day, can't come get you, and your friend you were supposed to be with had something come up so you're staying with me today."

"Really?" She brightened.

"Yep, we're going to the bank then the beach. Don't be fooled though, she said she'd continue this tonight."

"Okay!" Chin shook his head. Kids! He couldn't help but feel a little pleased. He liked Grace. She was fun. He could tell by her posture as they took off again that she was watching the ocean. The surf looked good today. The bank was a bit busy when they pulled up but there's always a spot for a motorcycle by the door.

"Stick with the bike, this won't take long."

"Okay!"

" _Don't_ go anywhere. Promise."

"I promise!" Somehow he felt wary of the promise. Danny's parental instincts must have rubbed off on him. He kept her in sight as he went into the bank. He was only in there about five minutes. Just seconds before he stepped through the door a white cargo van pulled up screeching to a halt and the door flew open.

"Hey, I told you that wouldn't take long." Chin chimed as Grace popped up off the bike and jogged to him.

"Jimmy I told you to slow down! It's okay to be a few minutes late!"

"On time is better though!"

"Not if the product is busted! Slow it down!" The driver and his lackey bickered. Chin watched them with an odd look and shuffled her onto the bike again quickly. The tension released when they finally pulled up to the beach with their surfboards the incident chalked up to too much time on the force and forgotten.

 **o0o0o0o0**

Danny went flying with a yelp and a heavy thud on the floor next to his bed with the sheets tangled around his legs. He didn't open his eyes. He refused to accept the reality he knew was waiting for him no matter what he tried.

"Are you serious? Really?" He snapped still not opening his eyes. He sympathized his mattress hearing it creak and groan as Steve's not so lightweight body jumped upon it.

"C'mon it's a beautiful sunny day with great surf and you're in here sleeping?" Danny rolled far enough to rescue a pillow and stuffed it under his head intent to get back to sleep right where he'd landed. Steve scoffed crashing down off the bed a foot planted on each side of Danny's frame as he whipped the pillow away. The thump of Danny's head to the floor was very loud.

"Do you _know_ how much I hate you right now?"

"D'awww you don't mean that Danno. We both know that." Danny groaned again going totally limp to make it as hard as possible for Steve as he dragged him up by his elbows.

"I've told you a thousand times to stop calling me that. It's a personal thing between me and Grace." He was on his feet despite his best efforts.

"Goodness you're whiny today."

"Jerk."

"Get dressed you're not spending the day in bed." Steve shoved him towards the master bath then went to a dresser fishing through his clothes.

"Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate..." Danny muttered all the way to the bathroom. "Make coffee!" He could hear the sniggering even behind the closed door.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here we go this is where it starts to get exciting! I hope you all like it! Many thanks to the person whom pointed out I had this in the wrong Hawaii Five-0, that's really not enough distinction labeling them Five-0 and Five-O, Fanfic should add the date for the original! Anyways, let me know what you think of this!**

Chapter 2

Cold water, warm sun, cool breeze, and rushing water beneath her finger tips. The day couldn't get better than this. The surf was fantastic. Big rolling waves with plenty of shutes. She'd gotten out here as soon as there was enough daylight and wave to surf by. She was a little surprised she didn't see Chin yet but then maybe he went for a bike ride first. She knew how much he loved that motorcycle on a windy day. Kamekona's arrival a few hours later was not a shocker. He had the shrimp truck today. The shave ice stand might come out later in the day. She road a wave all the way to shore eager to quench a thirst. Thinking about shaved ice had thrown a craving on her. She thought the sweet treat followed by a nap in the warm sand was in order. She was a bit bone-weary after the string of cases. The surfing eased the stress and the nap was just plain necessary, especially with having some surfing lessons to kids in need to provide in the late afternoon. She was just starting to drift off, freshly slathered with sun screen, lips sticky with sweetened ice when the bickering jarred her awake.

"I was happy where I was thank you very much! But no! You had to wake me up jumping on the bed, _broke_ the bed and now you want me to do sea fishing from land!"

"Oh c'mon Danno, you don't need to wallow in that old bed all day. You need fresh air, sunshine and you should be thanking me. You were in serious need of updating that bunk."

"I told you not to call me Danno and you're paying for a new bed, actually no, you've hijacked my entire Saturday, you're footing the bill for the whole room of furniture!"

"Yeah, let me know when that happens. Now, that spot over there where Kono's sleeping looks great for a little shore sea fishing." Kono breathed out a heavy sigh. Steve was on a roll today and taking out everyone around him with his antics. She sat up and brushed a bit of sand off.

"Good morning Steve, Danny." Steve whipped out folding chairs and patted Danny's which was a Daisy Duck pattern in pink where as his own was a blue pattern cammouflage.

"What is this? Are you serious? What _is this_ chair?"

"What are you complaining about, it's a comfortable chair." He leaned over and began prepping one of the rods.

"I hate you so much today. I really do. There is no end to my hate. Kona come sit in this chair, I'll take the towel." Kono laid back down.

"No." Danny looked between them mouthing working like a suffocating fish for a moment scrabbling for a solution. She smiled keeping her eyes shut as she heard the thud of flesh on flesh and felt a spray of sand as Danno decided wrestling Steve out of the camo chair was the answer. The brawl didn't last long and ended in a girlish yelp that Danny would always deny. His arm twisted behind his back Steve steered him into the shameful lawn chair and shoved a rod into his free hand.

"Sit down and quit being a spoil sport. That is a perfectly good chair and you _are_ going to catch a fish today." There was a low level muttering that continued for the next hour as they settled into a somewhat passive state of fishing and drinking cold beers. Kono found it peaceful and was content with her day listening to them squabble until the first surf student of her day arrived. In between harassing Danno Steve wondered about the lack of Chin on the beach. This was the sort of day he wouldn't be found anywhere else but he supposed Chin wasn't required to spend his every available day with the team on the beach. He could diverge from pattern occasionally. Kono finished the first lesson and crashed on the towel to rest waiting for the next to arrive. She only had two today but she loved it.

"Beer! I need a cold beer bell hop!" Danny whined prodding Steve incessantly.

"Guuh, fine I'll get you a beer but you get a fish already. Do you even have bait on that hook?" Steve lumbered out of the chair.

"One for me too!" Kono called with a smirk.

"Yeah yeah yeah." He waved them off, sauntering to the beer cooler when his phone rang. "McGarret. What? No hang on," He swerved towards his car instead and pulled the laptop to him and fired it up and opened the video chat. His entire demeanor darkened. "Yeah I've got it, we're on our way."

"Beeeeer!" Danny hollered petulantly.

"We gotta go...now!" Steve shouted snapping the laptop shut. There was a strange sharpness to his tone that got the pair moving to gather up the stuff. "Leave it! Kamekona watch our stuff!" That really got them moving. Steve had never insisted they leave their things abandon on a beach. He barely even gave them time to jump in his truck, having been Danny's ride and Kono having rode her bike, before he tore out of the parking lot.

"Steve what's going on? Shouldn't we wait for Chin before we start a case?" Kono asked jogging after their leader with Danny just behind them. She drew a few appreciative glances still in her bikini but they were fleeting, a few daring guys that had stared too long once and had learned a hard lesson. She had a spare set of clothes in her locker when she got a chance. They were surprised to see the head of HPD standing by the computer table.

"What's going on?" Danny demanded.

"For the last few weeks we've been tracking down a cyber peeping tom. He's been logging into people's computers and remotely activating the camera and mics to spy on them. So far as we can tell all he ever did was watch them."

"Okay what does that have to do with us?" Danny grumbled.

"Because this morning he turned himself in after tapping into this video feed and panicked." A video popped up on the main screen.

"Shit." Danny swore seeing Chin cuffed to a chair, a beefy meat head looming over him lobbying merciless blows to his torso. He was already badly bloodied and bruised from previous beatings. His breathing was labored and he leaned forward as far as his restraints would allow.

"Just tell me and this will all be over." The man snarled throwing another vicious blow by the collar bone eliciting a guttural groan.

"No." His voice was strained and raspy.

"When was this recorded?" Kono's voice quavered a bit.

"It wasn't, this is live footage from a video call." The interrogator kicked Chin's chair backwards and began barraging his side with his heel making Chin emit a restricted yelp.

"Son of a bitch, this is happening right now? Why haven't we traced it yet?"

"Whoever is running the video chat is tech savvy. They're bouncing IP addresses every few seconds."

"Alright we need to move fast on this. Kono track his phone and cards, see if you can figure out where he's been today, Danny go to his house see what you can find." He zoomed out the door. "I gotta make a call." He dialed Cath. Kono set the live feed to record onto their database then began on the phone records but it was slow going as she kept one eye peeled to watching her cousin. It was ten minutes before the man tipped his chair upright again. She bit her lip seeing him sag so heavily, blood dripping from a broken nose and down his chin. His left eye was swollen shut and he had two splits in his lip. He seemed semi-conscious at best. The twenty five minutes that passed before she got through the phone records, finding nothing and only two activities for his card before she started searching the camera footage for any sightings of Chin about the city. She was just starting to make progress when the interrogator returned. The sharp crackle of electricity and a scream muffled behind gritted teeth snapped her attention fully to the screen again.

"My boss wants his product back. This could go a lot easier for you if you just tell us where she is and it'll be all over."

"N-no, won't...give her...up." Chin spat some blood from his mouth and what she thought might be a piece of a tooth.

"You will when I'm done." He pressed car battery cables hard against his stomach. He thrashed violently for a ten count after the voltage had been removed.

"Hang in there cuz, we're coming." She whispered while the outbound call rang.

"McGarrett."

"Steve it's Kono. Whoever these guys are looking for a woman and they seem to think Chin knows where she is."

"Any idea who this woman is?"

"No they haven't given any names he just keeps asking where she is. Says his boss wants his product back."

"I'm sorry you have to do this but keep watching. How are you doing on the records?"

"No phone calls today. We do have two transactions on his cards. A withdraw at the bank this morning around ten and then a purchase at a surfboard shop about fifteen minutes previous. Odd."

"What's odd?"

"Chin has a few shops he buys boards from loyally but the purchase from this morning isn't one of those shops."

"Alright I'll check it out. Good work Kono." The call clicked and she turned her attention back to running the facial recognition scan backwards through the cameras.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, sunglasses in hand resting against his thigh while he scrubbed sweat and stress from his face. Things were going downhill fast. He'd called Cat for a favor hoping her connections could expedite tracking the video feed but so far they had nothing. He didn't think they had a lot of time. Chin looked in bad shape already and was worsening quickly in the hour they'd been watching. Kono sounded badly shaken, for good reason. He wished he could spare her, put someone else on her job but she was the best at those particular searches and he had to play to their strengths today. The surf shop he walked up to looked perfectly normal. Nothing seedy in appearance or the few customers he'd seen coming and going.

"Steve McGarrett, Five-O, I've got some questions." He began flashing the perfectly polished badge.

"What can I do for you?" The man looked around a little confused with a small frown.

"This man come in here today? His name's Chin Ho Kelly."

"Yeah, I remember him."

"What'd he purchase today? Was he acting unusual at all?"

"Oh he didn't buy anything, I mean it was his card and he signed for it but she was the one buying and no he seemed normal."

"Okay so a woman was the customer but he was paying."

"Nah man, not a woman, a girl, lil girl. He let her do the whole order except sign the receipt. I figured she was his daughter or something." Steve's heart jumped.

"Did you catch the girl's name?"

"Nah, he never said it."

"Was it this girl?" He pulled up a photo he'd snapped of Danny and Grace.

"Yeah that's her." He didn't bother to thank the shop keep as he charged back to the camero pulling his phone.

"Kono you have anything on tracking down where the video feed is coming from?"

"Not yet I'm starting to get pieces of Chin on camera but I don't have a cohesive picture yet."

"Pull all the help you can get we've got a big problem. Is Danno nearby."

"No, it's just me here right now...Why?"

"Because Grace was with Chin at the surf shop."

"What? Hang on I'm adding Grace to the facial recognition." He revved the engine for the camero bee-lining to headquarters lights on. He knew Kono was hard at work when she hung up on him without warning. He was only a few minutes away.

"Do you have anything yet?"

"Well I have bits here and there now that I've added Grace and been working on this alone."

"How's he doing?" He stared up at Chin on the monitor. He was slumped forward as far as the cuffs would let him and breathing heavily. It was unclear if he was conscious or not but his captors seemed to be leaving him alone for now.

"Not good. They used a car battery on him for half an hour."

"We'll get em Kono. What've you got?"

"So far I know that Chin picked up Grace from along the highway."

"The highway?"

"Yeah she was walking along it." She pulled up the video and they watched as Chin spot her and pull over. They talked for a few minutes before he slapped a helmet on her head and they rode off. "We see them again entering the surf shop which only takes a few minutes before they leave again."

"Do we have any other sightings?"

"Ummm...Oh here we go." She pulled up a just retrieved video file. She chewed her lip nervous about what they'd see. It was a few of one of the local parks, devoid of foot traffic. At first there was nothing then Chin scrambled into the scene clearly having been in a fight given the blood and bruising starting to show. It was only a few seconds before two more men appeared and the trio fought fiercely. They felt a sense of pride watching him beat them back effectively right up until one of them got around behind and slammed him with the butt of a gun. Kono swallowed thickly watching him drop hard. The two thugs, battered for their efforts, hefted a completely limp Chin and dragged him off screen.

"Okay so this is where they actually kidnap Chin... but he's clearly the only one there so what happened to Grace?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: And here we go another chapter! Hope you like it! By the way I've only seen through season 4 so yeah, desperately waiting for Netflix to get season 5!**

Chapter 3

He felt entirely too heavy. It was like there was an anchor pulling on every fiber of muscle, skin, even the veins felt like they were being dragged down by gravity. He kept his eyes closed, pained by even the faintest light, and kept as still as possible. Movement was a very bad idea today. He couldn't tell how long he'd been in his kidnapper's custody or how long he'd been languishing here half conscious since they'd left him and thankfully taken the car battery with them. He could still feel the odd spasm work through his quivering muscles. He had come to the conclusion that he was having a bad day. All he'd wanted was a relaxing day with surf and sun and instead he was enduring this torture. He was hoping, with everything he had, that his team got suspicious at his absence at the beach. It wasn't a rule but they almost always wound up hanging out as a group on the beach during their days off.

"I hope your little rest has improved your manners." Chin startled sucking in a sharp breath. In his state he hadn't heard the return of his interrogator. The effort to sit up pulled at his wounds but the straighter position felt less defenseless. Purely psychological he knew, he was utterly at their mercy, but it still helped. "You silence will only cause you more pain. Just tell me where the girl is and this can be over."

"I..have nothing to say."

"Very well, waste our time." Chin heard him walk to the back of the room and shuffle through some items but still didn't open his eyes. He didn't know whether it was to snub his captor or through exhaustion. He was actually starting to drift again, didn't feel himself being released from the chair, hands still cuffed, until a rope looped his neck. He never had a chance to react as he was flung into the air, feet flailing, and gasping fruitlessly for air like a fish on land. His vision was going black when he was dropped back to the floor in a heap. He wasn't given the chance to breathe before the rope was yanked again and he was up for a short flight. "It doesn't have to be this hard. Just tell me where she is."

"No." He rasped. He knew it was coming but there was nothing he could do to prepare for the next round of strangulation. He could feel the veins popping in his eyes and his head pounded under the pressure. The next time he hit the ground he coughed violently curling instinctively. He couldn't get enough air. His vision swam in shades of grey. There was a voice above him but he couldn't distinguish the words. He felt himself kicked onto his back and the world spun wildly. It wasn't a smart move, or even planned but on impulse he saw and took the opening to slam his heel into the man's shin sending him toppling. It was satisfying to give some back.

"You son of a..." The man snarled snatching up a thin whippery cane battering him fast and hard. His thin shirt did nothing to protect his skin against his rage. The attack was fast and vicious leaving them both winded. He shivered feeling blood oozing down his back and numerous welts swelling up. He tried to swallow but that only caused a coughing fit again. He gave meager resistance as he was forced back into the chair but it was little more than a show. As soon as he got into the chair he sagged low, head tilting onto the top of the high back chair to rest. "You going to talk yet?"

"No." Just the one word burned his throat. The man cuffed him back to the chair, this time added ankle cuffs hooking him to the lower cross bar. Chin didn't put any thought to the man leaving the room for a few minutes content to just be left alone for a minute. He wasn't sure how long he could hold out but he knew without a shred of doubt that he wouldn't give up Grace. He supposed after a long time, Danny would be able to forgive him under the circumstances, but he could never forgive himself if he cracked. No, either way he was holding out long enough for the team to rescue them, or he was going to be killed protecting her. That was the only acceptable option. The interrogator returned and jammed his feet into a deep plastic followed by a crush of ice and water over his feet until the bin was full and splashed the excess over his head.

"I'm going to grind you down to _nothing_." The man hissed in his ear before leaving him alone again. Chin groaned, grinding his teeth, and jerked at the ankle cuffs desperate to get out of the ice water as deep stabbing pains began to shoot through his feet as the cold seeped up to his knees and his muscles seized.

Danny half jogged half skipped into headquarters with an intense sense of malaise. He'd gotten a text from Steve to meet him back here asap but it hadn't said why. Whatever it was instinct told him it wasn't good. The first place he looked when he entered the main conference room was the screen on the wall for Chin. He was thankfully still there and still alive but looked drastically worse having a great deal more bad bruising and splits in his skin. He could see bad ligature marks all around his neck and his feet were jammed into a bucket which he struggled hopelessly to kick over causing water and ice to splash over the sides. Danny couldn't imagine what 'product' Chin had come across, possessed, or stolen to warrant such brutality.

"Hey what's going on? Why'd you say to get here _now_? You scared me half to death I thought they'd killed Chin or something when you said it was urgent." Danny snapped rounding on Steve.

"It is urgent Danno, we need you to make a call and check on Rachel and Grace." Danny stopped in his tracks confused and scared by that subtle edge to Steve's tone.

"Why what's going on?" He looked back and forth between McGarret and Kono but she didn't look at him, only Steve.

"We were running Facial Rec. to track Chin's movements today when we came across this." Kono obliged by pulling up the video clip. A wave of more emotions then they could track crossed Danny's expression as he watched his daughter walking along the highway alone as Chin pulled up, talked then put a helmet on her and drove off. Danny's heart was pounding like a jackhammer as he stormed a few feet away pulling out his phone.

"Rachel! Where the hell is Grace! No, you _don't_ get to talk later. You find out that Grace, _my daughter_ is walking along the highway and you just pass her off to Chin! What is wrong with you? Grace isn't with Chin, you know how I know? Because I'm watching Chin on a live video feed being _tortured_ for her location, but don't you worry about it. Your work is obviously more important!" Danny ended the call and still bubbling with rage threw the phone across the room. No one spoke for a moment. Most of the onlookers were stricken with fear while his team members knew to just give him a chance to work through the fury and get back to that laser focus he had when anything involved his daughter.

"Danno," Steve began after a few minutes still seeing the man's shoulders shaking, "we're going to find her. We know that Chin's kidnappers don't have her, that's what their interrogating Chin about which means he probably hid her somewhere safe."

"He's right, Chin's only priority would be making sure Grace was safe."

"I know. I know he would do anything to protect her. I know he did everything to keep her safe,I know he's being tortured brutally just to buy us time to find them and I _know_ that I'm going to get those sons of bitches and they're going to be _lucky_ to make it to prison when I get my hands on them." The computer beeped before anyone could responds.

"We've got another sighting on facial rec." Kono pulled it up quickly. They could see Grace just outside a bank sitting on Chin's motorcycle waiting patiently. The camera angle was from a building across the street allowing them to see partly inside the bank where Chin was waiting in line constantly watching Grace even while he completed his transaction. Everything seemed normal until at the same moment as Chin exiting the bank a white delivery truck screeched up behind Grace on the bike and the side door flew open. Grace simultaneously hopped up and met Chin halfway with a big grin, the delivery men in the truck striking up what appeared to be an argument given their body language.

"Well that's...strange." Steve commented.

"Yeah Chin thought so too. Look at his expression, and how he hurries her to the bike and gets back on the road. He definitely felt uneasy about them." Danny agreed.

"And for good reason, check this out." Kono, whom had been working with a different camera farther down the street pulled it up to the main screen, "That van was waiting nearly ten minutes before Chin and Grace even arrived at the bank.

"That was a botched attempt to kidnap Grace." Steve gritted.

"Those lowlife scumbags were gonna just _grab her_ in broad daylight on a busy street!"

"And they weren't even bothering to wear masks. Do we have an I.D on them Kono?" She typed for a moment.

"Ummmm, yeah we do, they've both got records for car jacking, drug possession, and robbery. James Michaelson and Robert Devins. As far as we know their addresses are current."

"Let's get these scuzzballs."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well here we go, I hadn't planned on posting this until morning but I guess I'm leaving people breathless? Don't want any of you passing out! And since I forgot to mention this earlier, this is the first installment of my Liabilities series!**

Chapter 4

"Answer me!" Danny slammed a fist on the table. This wasn't good cop bad cop, this was bad cop homicidal father on a rampage. "Where is Chin Ho Kelly!" The man cuffed to the chair, fingers purple from lack of circulation flinched. Steve stood in a corner of the room feeling a little nervous himself. He didn't care a spit about this guy but he was still concerned Danny might lose it and kill him in his passion to find his daughter and Chin. Steve didn't blame him in the least but he had to ensure he came out clean. He was going to make sure Grace never visited her father in prison because of this.

"I don't gotta say nothin cop!" Devins emphasized his defiance spitting a thick wad of mucus into his face then laughed.

"You think this is funny!" Danny kicked the chair hard throwing the suspect backwards to the floor hard. He reared to kick him in the ribs but Steve intervened shoving him towards the door.

"Hey hey cool it, go get that washed off. Who knows what this animals got." Danny gritted his teeth for a moment but relented admittedly eager to remove the slimy which was oozing down his face.

"Fine...whatever." Steve turned back to Devins. The man shrank away a little seeing the look on his face. He was openly afraid of McGarret.

"I'm going to ask you this one more time and I suggest you answer because if you don't I'm going to let that guy do what he wants and you don't want that cause normally I'm the crazy outta control one. So, why did you try to kidnap Grace Edwards and where is Chin Ho Kelly."

"I'm not saying noth..."

"NO!" Kono's screech jolted them both, sending Steve running back to the conference room. She was just outside the room, back turned to the screen, an arm around her stomach the other over her mouth as she sobbed and sporadically lurched fighting back the urge to vomit.

"Kono what happened?" Steve touched her elbow only for her to wave him away.

"What happened?" Danny jogged up face still dripping wet.

"I can't...I can't watch it again..." They left her outside, Steve pulling up the recording while Danny scanned the live feed. His gut twisted with what he did and didn't see. He couldn't directly see Chin because his captor was looming in front of him but he could see blood, fresh heavy flowing blood on his legs. He was grunting and gasping trying not to sob as he writhed in the chair.

"Steve?"

"Here it is." The interrogator was circling Chin demanding to know where Grace was hidden. Chin was refusing of course though he lacked vigor he was resolute. They did a few more rounds of question and refusal before the interrogator lost patiences pulling a revolver from the front of his waistband blasting a bullet into each kneecap.

"I'm going to kill that bastard." Danny's vision was covered in a red mist. He barely heard Steve calling after him. He ignored his friend pulling out his phone. "Kamekona I need to borrow your bird warm her up." Steve barely caught up in time to jump in the car, the passenger seat for once with the suspect squealing in the back seat. He was at Kamekona's chopper, prepped and ready to fly, tying the suspect with rope to the skids before awareness of anything around him returned.

"Danny stop and think for a minute. You can't just dangle him from the chopper like this!"

"The hell I can't." He yanked on the ropes a few times then started to climb into the bird. Steve felt like he was grasping at straws being the one trying to reign Danny in off a crazy illegal plan. This was normally his role. He only remembered having to do it once before and never like this.

"Think it through Danny you could kill him doing this and then Rachel could take Grace from you for good, you'd be in prison plus we still have James to work on. C'mon, listen to me Danny, leave the stupid crazy plans to me, pulling it off is a McGarret thing." He held his breath as Danny stood half in, half out of the chopper, his mind whirling.

"Fine, I'll try it your way for now." He slammed the chopper door shut and practically threw himself into the camero passenger seat.

"Good Danno." When they returned to Five-O headquarters Danny removed himself entirely from interrogations and took her place keeping watch over Chin. If Steve could have his way neither would be watching him suffer like this but he couldn't be left alone. Even if he didn't know it they were going to be with him until they brought him home. They kept hoping for some clue as to where he was or the identity of his interrogator but the man always had a mask and the room around him was generic. The interrogator was circling again, lighting up a fat cigar, taking a few puffs then smothering it on Chin's neck. He would moan weakly and try to shift away but there was nowhere for him to go and he was half conscious at best now. The only thing he said was no. Danny looked up at the clock. Six hours into day two he heard Kono and Steve walk up behind him.

"Did they say anything yet?" There was something soulless about his tone that gave Kono shivers.

"Yeah, James claims they were paid twenty grand to kidnap Grace but he says he never met the man. All communications were done through burner phones and the money was dropped in the mailbox of an abandon building."

"Wait they targeted my daughter specifically?"

"Yes, according to Devin he's worked for this guy before, never meets in person either but he does know that the guys runs in child trafficking. He's kept off the radar because he only takes children that meet a specific buyer's request kinda like a custom order. So instead of groups of kids going missing it's just maybe one or two and most of them get chalked up as runaways."

"I'm going to kill them, these sons of bitches aren't making it to prison..."

"Danno breathe, we're going to get them and we will get Grace and Chin back."

"Yeah how we doing on that? We get anything from Rollins on the video feed?"

"Not yet."

"What about that hacker kid we using him at all?" Steve scrubbed his scalp viciously.

"No, not yet."

"Well get him!" The shout match was interrupted by Chin's scream as his interrogator ground his heel into his knee. He slumped out cold. The man sighed heavily pulling out a cigar box and lit one up seemingly intent on actually enjoying it this time. "that bast.."

"Hey wait a second." Kono cut him off. "That cigar box, it looks like a custom job we might be able to track it." She froze the frame and zoomed in on the box sending the image to their phones.

"Great, Kono you track that down, I'll get the hacker transferred here and get him a secure laptop to work on...Danno..."

"I'm calling those Maile riders. We're pulling every resource, official or not, this needs to be done with _now_."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Can't think of anything earth shattering to say, tired, need a weekend off, so I'll just say hi and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 5

It was hot, so intensely hot. He squirmed to escape the rays but he couldn't, they were radiating from him. Fever had set in somewhere in what he presumed was night and it built like a wild fire in California. He panted heavily struggling to get enough air, his heart pounding out of control. His head felt heavy and his brain like a floating balloon inside it. Half of him was numb the other half overwhelmed with burning pain. He could feel himself trembling and begged silently for it to stop but he couldn't. It wasn't in his control. Nothing was in his control. Something thumped outside the room making him jump, heart jumping into his throat with fear, an explosion of agony erupting through his knees. He couldn't keep from crying out, clenching his eyes closed but tears still escaped.

"Hang in there Chin, you're going to be okay." His eyes peeled open sluggishly confused.

"Wha?"

"You here me Chin?" His eyelids felt sticky as he blinked turning towards the voice to see Steve.

"Wa'r you...doin here?" The image of Steve was fuzzy, especially around th edges like he were looking at a bad picture of him instead of the man.

"Don't worry about that, you just having to hang in there a little longer Chin." He sagged lower on the chair again tilting his head to rest on the back again.

"Can't."

"You can Chin, you can do this. You can hold out for Grace." Chin sat up again, or at least tried, reeling to catch up to reality with Danno crouched next to him. His vision kept flickering making him dizzy and nauseous.

"Won' g'v up...Gr'ce."

"I know, I don't doubt it but you gotta keep yourself alive too." Chin sat back again eyes closing not resisting the pull towards sleep.

"Hey hey stay with me." He continued to sink towards oblivion only to be wrenched back with a crush of water over his head. "I'm not letting you rest until you tell me where the girl is." He shook water out of his eyes, the world rocking like a boat before his interrogator clarified.

"Noooo." He moaned despairing. He couldn't take anymore. Some new agony erupted through his body, so intense he couldn't even distinguish where from, "Stop stop stop!" He screamed and writhed.

"How long has he been talking to himself?" Steve frowned gut twisting as he glanced at the feed seeing Chin semi-conscious and carrying on a conversation with the empty room.

"A few hours now and I know what started it." Danny zoomed in on Chin's left knee. It wasn't bleeding anymore but there was a greenish yellow fluid seeping out of the wound.

"Infection, he's going downhill fast."

"Any luck with our hacker friend?"

"Yeah he's figured out the people at Chin's location are routing the feed through another computer at a third or even fourth location before it gets to whoever is watching. He says he'll have the ip address in a minute then Kono and I are picking the scuzz up."

"You sure we can trust the little criminal?"

"Yeah we've got Toast watching to make sure he's not pulling a fast one."

"Great I'll go with you."

"No. No I need you to stay here. Keep watching over Chin. Kono can't keep watching and I don't want you killing anyone before we're done with them." Danny was going to argue but then he shut his mouth for Kono's sake. He wouldn't be the one to make her have to watch her cousin tortured like this because of him.

"Alright, make it quick and don't forget to call!" Steve stared at him dumbfounded at the lack of resistance.

"Got the address!" Toast shouted across the building.

"Go idiot." Steve didn't need to be asked again Taking Kono and Toast, to spot hacker behaviors among the coffee shop patrons and bring this guy into custody. Danny felt like a wreck while they were gone. Useless staying at the office while the others did the hard work. He understood and agreed but he still hated just sitting here watching him suffer. It was half an hour before he got the text.

 _We got the guy._ Danny appreciated Steve's message. His nerves were fraying badly the farther into the third day this dragged. The sessions of torture were far shorter today. Chin was very weak and couldn't hold up against the pain. He was running out of time. Danny thumped the table seeing the interrogator return. Chin was too out of touch to see it coming as the man grabbed the pinky finger of his left hand and snapped it.

"Tell me where the girl is." Chin couldn't muster the strength to actually talk and just shook his head. He snapped the index finger next but Chin continued to refuse. This time he went back to the pinky finger and broke it by the middle knuckle. Chin let out a sharp sob and squirmed trying to escape feebly.

"Hang on Chin, just a lil longer buddy we're closing in on em." Danny muttered hearing the others return with a squalling suspect. He looked like a little punk, not more than twenty, and wiry. Danny charged him reaching a level of cold control that scared his own team.

"Danny? Danny what're you going to do?" Steve followed worried as his suspect was yanked from him and dragged to the conference room.

"You see him you little punk? That is Chin Ho Kelly he protected my _daughter_ from your child trafficking friends you routed that webcam for the past few days and I'm betting by your green shade you haven't been watching you just set it up and shrunk it down. Now you're going to tell me where these bastards are holding my friend or you'll get it worse then him." The kid went deathly pale.

"St-Steve? M-make...st-top...St've? D'nny?" They heard Chin pleading as his captor tossed what was probably acid at his back.

"You hear him. That's my friend, my brother, o'hana begging just to keep my daughter safe now tell me where he is!" Danny pulled his gun and jammed it against the small of his back twisting and grinding it into the muscles. Danny yankd his head up when he tried to look away as the man rolled one of the broken knuckles between his fingers making Chin sob. Danny slammed his head to the table twice. "Answer me! Steve, get me that bag of lye we took off a bust yesterday!"

"Wait wait wait! I'll talk! I'll talk!" Danny whipped him around to face him and curled his fingers around the kid's throat.

"Where is Chin Ho Kelly?!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Danny's heart pounded as he gripped the passenger seat white knuckled, shockingly without complaint as Steve screeched around another corner. Cracking the computer tech these scum had hired was real easy in the face of his fury and the lack of intervention of anyone around him. They had mobilized in minutes after barely taking a moment to check satelite that it wasn't an empty field. They had an ambulance meeting them down the street ready to move in as soon as it was clear. They were armed to the teeth itching to issue a beating.

"There's the house, we hit it hard." Steve declared.

"Fine by me, just give me some time alone with him." Kono growled. Danny's continued silence worried them. It wasn't natural. They converged on the house guns drawn. Steve kicked the door sending it flying in splinters splitting off into three directions swiftly. The entire top floor was devoid of occupents. It appeared like any normal small office until they made it to the stairwell door for the basement. They didn't even have to open it to hear the gutteral scream from below. Danny hit the stairs first, the door in even smaller shards than the front door. Chin was still cuffed to the chair, his feet in a bucket of ice, thrashing, his voice cracking. The man was above him, bracing one hand on the back of the chair the other grinding a power drill into the joint of his shoulder. Danny slammed him like a bulldozer crashing them both against the far wall. He landed the blows like a sledgehammer fast and hard and it was glorious until Kono pulled at his elbow.

"Take care of Chin, I've got this guy." He hesitated, breathing hard then her words sunk in and he hurried over to where Steve was crouched next to their friend. He was gasping and quivering as his wrists were released from the cuffs. Steve swore seeing the deep lacerations and bruising from the metal. Danny plunged his hand in to the bucket with a hiss releasing the ankle cuffs. He was forced to partly straighten his legs to remove the bucket biting his lip hearing his friend's sob of pain.

"He's got frostbite on his feet."

"Chin can you hear me? Chin? He's in shock help me get him flat and his feet up." Steve instructed. It was agony forcing him to move as he whimpered and moaned. He was trembling hard enough Danny could hear his teeth chattering. He moved up to a drill hole in his stomach that bled profusely and pressed to slow the bleeding. "Chin, c'mon open your eyes Chin."

"I can't stop this bleeding, where's the ambulance?"

"Just a minute away." Kono joined them. "Hey! You move you eat a bullet!" she pointed her gun back at the man cuffed like a hog-tie wriggling to escape.

"Kono go out front make sure those medics have a clear path."

"Sure thing, you hang in there Cous." She paused to press a palm to his forehead, terrified by the intense fever. His breathing was erratic and dangerously shallow, eyes nearly rolled back into his head as he held onto consciousness by a thread.

"Chin stay awake Chin you have to stay awake for Grace." It was a cheap tactic but it worked. He blinked sluggishly, breath hitching as he attempted to look around him but they could feel his hot skin suddenly going cold and clammy. The medics thundered down the stairs and swarmed around them. Steve allowed himself to be pushed aside by one by he had to pull Danny away. "Give them room Danno, Chin's in good hands with them."

"I gotta do something...gotta help him Steve." McGarret looped an arm around his shoulders holding him back.

"I know Danno, you will, you're gonna stick with him at the hospital." They watched as he was hefted onto the stretcher with another cry of pain.

"Yeah, okay." Danny sighed. There were so many emotions running through him he couldn't catalogue them all properly. He was disconnected from himself as he followed the medics up the stairs. Bringing Chin into daylight he suddenly felt sick to his stomach seeing the bloody mess, all consuming bruising and deathly pallor. "I'm riding with him!" he leapt towards the back of the ambulance taking a seat by his head.

"Talk to him, try to keep him alert." One of the medics suggested.

"Chin, you hear me? C'mon buddy can you wake up for me?" He patted Chin's cheek lightly afraid to even touch him. He looked so fragile, like he'd shatter. His eyes lolled back and forth rolled back into his head. "Chin? Look at me Chin. I need you to tell me where Grace is." Danny felt a hint of relief seeing him rouse a little to gaze around and fight to remove the oxygen mask.

"You're doing good keep talking to him." The medics jabbed a second iv into his arm then increased the flow of the mask. Danny tried not to think on their flurried movements and worried expressions. He was afraid enough for Chin.

"Hey you need that air, leave it alone buddy. Talk to me about Grace. Tell me wehre you hid Gracie Chin." Danny ran a hand across his forehead and through his hair finding physical touch somewhat effective to keep him conscious.

"C'e?" Danny was shocked and elated to hear the barely recognizable attempt at his daughter's name.

"Yeah Grace, talk to me about Grace. Where's my daughter?" Chin's heavily glazed expression changed and he began resisting them with what little strength he had left.

"W'n te'...won't...b'tr'y...no...no..."

"Hey hey easy Chin, easy, it's okay we're taking you home. You hear me Chin? You're safe now okay? We're going home." Danny never knew if he got through to Chin as he suddenly started sucking in breath after breath choking any time he tried to exhale sending the medics into a panic.

"We need to intubate him now!" Danny wedged into the corner trying to stay out of the way as they shoved the tube down his throat and double checking stats. Whatever the results they weren't pleased. The ambulance pulled to a stop and they bailed in a flash. Danny chased after them but he was stopped at the double doors.

"Sir you have to stay out here."

"No I have to go with him, he's family."

"I'm sorry sir, we'll send someone with an update when we can." Danny backed up until his legs hit a chair and he sank into it forced to wait.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here you go another chapter! I hope you all like it so far. Hard to know without reviews but I guess some people do, the ones following it at least. Anyways, hope to hear from you! Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

McGarrett hustled both desperate and dreading arriving at the hospital. He didn't know much on any detail about Chin's condition except that he was still alive. Critical was what the word the EMS used when they checked each stat while loading him into the ambulance. He honestly didn't want to have to talk to Danny. He didn't want to tell him that there'd been a shootout and the man interrogating Chin was dead and they hadn't captured any of the shooters. They'd bugged out as soon as their target was dead. Clearly whomever was behind the attempted kidnapping of Grace and the torture of Chin was covering his tracks, untraceable through the video, and tying up loose ends by killing the middlemen. The hospital was quiet which was unsurprising as it was nearly three in the morning. He stayed just outside the room looking at the two men inside for a moment. Danny looked exhausted as he sat slumped in a badly made chair, staring glaze eyed at Chin keeping a hold on his wrist. If it weren't for the monitors confirming he was alive albeit barely he would seem dead. There was more of him bandaged than left exposed. His entire left hand was splinted and taped but was swollen to the point the skin had split in some places. He had an iv in both arms, was an sickly ashen gray, and covered in a thick sheen of sweat.

"Danno?" He stepped into the room.

"Steve." He sat up straighter, back popping, with a groan.

"How bad is it?" Steve moved to the opposite side of the bed and pulled up a chair that he suspected was even worse than Danny's.

"Real bad Steve. He's got six broken ribs, fractured right orbital bone, grade three concussion, lacerated lung, they took out like a foot an a half of his intestine, both kneecaps were shattered, they couldn't even reconstruct the left one they had to remove it. Burns from acid and cigars all over. I think the stitch count was over five hundred."

"Do they think he's going to..."

"They don't know, they just keep saying..."

"Critical."

"Yeah. Critical. His entire life wrapped up into one word. Critical."

"Yeah well Chin's tough."

"He's not getting back up for a long time after this. Every bruise, cut and burn, he could have made it easier on himself but he didn't. He didn't give in for Grace's sake."

"You're both o'hana Danno, we'd all do the same without a second thought." They paused with bated breath as Chin hissed, back arching, his muscles clenching then released again not waking.

"Yeah, that's what scares me."

"What? Why? You'd do the same for us. You'd harp and complain loud as you could and deny it but really you would do the same."

"Exactly, you'd all go to this extreme to protect me an Grace. We won't be your liability."

"Too late Danno, you can't just decide not to be o'hana and make it true. Here or anywhere else we'd be there so quite whining." Steve stretched to pop his back noting how the blonde tightened his grip on Chin's wrist, his thumb over the pulse point. Steve couldn't blame him needing that extra bit of reassurance.

"What about that bastard, he say anything?"

"No, he never made it, shootout took him out on the way to Five-O."

"Figures."

"Hey, we'll get em, I'm not going to let them get away with this. I promise." There was a long silence not quite tense, not quite comfortable.

"Does it matter if we don't find Grace? If Chin doesn't survive?"

"That won't happen. I won't let that happen." Steve got up ready to get back to the grindstone. He hadn't intended to stay long.

"I'll call." Danny mumbled. McGarrett felt no better leaving than he had coming. There was a small sense of relief knowing Chin was still alive, even if by a thread, but everything was up in the air. It could all go sour fast. He didn't like admitting that Danny was partly right. Being the only member with a daughter, especially one so young, they presented a weak point to be exploited. It was a problem he was going to rectify. As soon as he got Grace back and took down these scum he was going to look into a way of fortifying Grace and Danny. Protect them from this ever happening again.

"How is he?" Kono asked her voice quavering a bit.

"Hanging in there but it's dicey. We got anything new?"

"Not much. I've been working on tracing Chin's movements during the day, maybe narrow down when and where he could have stashed Grace. I still don't know much but I did find this." She pulled up a video of Chin and Grace in a shopping center. Grace had a shopping bag from one of the stores. After a moment they responded to a call and someone jogged up to Chin and struck up a conversation for about five minutes then parted ways.

"Do we know who that guy is?"

"His name is Sam White. He's an off duty HPD. Lukela asked him to drop by, he should be here in ten minutes or so."

"Good, every bit should help. I'll start back tracking that guy that was running the interrogation, see if we can see where their days crossed."

"Great, I need all the help I can get. How's Danny holding up?"

"He's peachy."

"I should be the one guarding Chin. Danny shouldn't have to stare at what happened to Chin right now, doing nothing."

"He's not doing nothing. Chin's still a loose end and I can't imagine anyone better than the father and friend to keep him safe and he won't have the opportunity to kill someone too soon here."

"That's a good point, you just have to worry about us killing suspects then. White is here."

"Alright, I'll talk to him. Let me know if you get anything more on this guy or Chin."

"Hey, Sam White, what can I do for Five-O?" Steve shook his hand cordially.

"Just a few questions if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

"I understand you saw Chin Ho Kelly a few days ago at the local shopping center."

"Yeah we bumped into each other."

"Did you notice anything unusual. Did he seem nervous, uneasy at all?"

"No, he was with that girl, Grace I think the name was, to buy a bathing suit. I guess they hadn't expected to hit the beach that day and she didn't have one. He'd said she could just surf in what she was wearing but according to him she wouldn't have it so they were buying one. Why something wrong?" Steve chuckled a moment. That sounded like Grace insisting on a suit. Just like her father. You didn't use plain clothes for swimming and you didn't use swim suits like plain clothes. Everything for its proper use.

"Yeah, later that day someone tried to abduct that girl and ended up taking Chin Ho Kelly instead. We have Chin back but Grace is still missing."

"Damn, I'm so sorry. Is Kelly okay? You got any leads?"

"He will be. We're doing everything we can. If you think of anything, odd characters or cars floating around them give me a call any time. We're working around the clock on this one."

"Will do. Good luck!" Steve frowned as the man let him out. For all the leads they followed, all the clues they collected and their best chance of finding Grace was still Chin Ho Kelly.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here we go! It's short but it's here! I've been super busy sorry it took so long to post!**

Chapter 8

Chin fidgeted restlessly still unconscious and plagued by a persistant fever. He had been in the hospital three days now and the doctors said he was some improved by it wasn't anything Danny could see. The only color he had to him was the bright red flush at his cheeks and neck. It was with extreme reluctance that they were removing most of the sedatives, though not most of the morphine, to see if they could wake him up. Nobody wanted to force him to regain consciousness but they still had no leads on where Gracie was hidden and it was six days now since she vanished and Chin was taken. Danny was admittedly a nervous wreck being held together by over sugared caffeinated coffee and the job of keeping Chin safe. Steve and Kono checked on them frequently, bringing food and updates though they had little reassurance for him. James Michaelson and Robert Devins had been assasinated during transfer to jail. The trafficker behind this was very efficient at cleaning up loose ends and destroying their leads. Chin was their last living source of information and he was still considered critical. Danny startled from his thoughts hearing Chin groan gutterally, pressing his head deeper into the pillow, back arching and breathing hard through a wave of pain.

"Chin? You awake?" He leaned over him pressing a palm to his forehead hoping the contact may help to rouse him. His head tossed for a minute before he exhaled sharply and went slack. Danny sat back. "Not yet then." He pinched the bridge of his nose feeling the migraine beginning again. He hadn't slept properly since the case had begun and even less when they brought Chin home.

"Hey, you need to get some rest." He startled not having heard her enter.

"Kono. Everything okay? You get anything new?" He tried to sit up but half his back muscles were frozen from long term chair abuse and the other half cracked like popcorn in a microwave.

"Oooh, that doesn't sound good. You need to steal a better chair."

"This _is_ the better chair. I took it from the gal three doors down. Figured she couldn't complain as she's in a coma. Woah hey what're you doing?" He yelped as she shoved him forward moving in behind him.

"Relax, it'll help. My mom taught me this." She forced him forward again and began grinding her knuckles into the muscle.

"Ah ah ah wait I don't wanna die!" He squacked squirming.

"Hold still it'll feel better in a minute."

"Guuuuh, bloody murder." He whined again but sure enough as he failed to escape in the course of another minute he felt everything begin to release and the tension ease.

"There, that'll spare you a few hours of the chair."

"Did you find anything new?"

"We're still scanning the cameras around the island to resconstruct everyone's movements but wherever Chin hid Grace it's one of the places where there aren't any yet or they're down for some reason."

"Well that should narrow the search area."

"Yeah but not as much as we'd hoped. That storm a few weeks ago had a lot of lighting strikes so quite a few cameras are malfunctioning. The MAILIE riders are knocking on doors and searching vacant houses but it's a big area."

"What kind of shape will my daughter be in after six days?"

"I'm sure Cous. put her somewhere safe. He would have thought of making sure she was okay even if he didn't get back to her for a while."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Chin grunted and gasped with a small lurch and began resisting some unknown force and muttering.

"Chin? C'mon wake up for me Cous." Kono moved to the other side of the bed stroking his hair, plastered by sweat to his skin. He hissed and attempted to pull away fearful. He knew he wasn't alone. He could sense someone above him but he couldn't make anything come into focus. Everything was too heavy and sluggish.

"Hey Chin, buddy time to wake up!" He cupped his hand at the nape of his neck worried by the heat that still poured off him. They had him on heavy antibiotics but the infection was persisting. "Chin wake up, we gotta talk to you about Grace."

"Hmmgh?" He moaned trying to peel his eyes open by they were sticky and burned when he got them to crack.

"Yeah that's it Cous." He couldn't see clearly through the thick haze. There were two, or maybe four, people he above him but he could only hear two and their voices seemed familiar.

"Chin, I know you're tired but where is Grace?" Chin's heart sank hearing only the request for her location. He must have been confused, the familiar voice was just the interrogator a small sob escaping with disappointment. "Hey hey it's okay Chin, you're safe it's okay, you're with family."

"W-won't...won'..." He coughed pain spiking through his body.

"Shhh, it's okay Cous. you're home. You hear me Cous?" He groaned again eyes drooping.

"Hey stay awake Chin. Can you do that for me?" Danny tapped his cheek a little. "C'mon it's me Danno."

"D'n?" He coughed and tensed.

"Yeah that's right, it's me Danno. Can you tell me where Grace is? Tell me where my daughter is Chin." His eyes slipped closed then open again as he nearly lost his tenuous hold on awareness.

"W'tch...M'x."

"What?"

"Watch..." He sucked in a sharp breath working his jaw. "Watch...Max."

"Why do we need to watch Max Cous?"

"W'tch...M'x." Chin slipped into unconsciousness again.

"Why would he tell us to watch Max? He couldn't have anything to do with this." Kono questioned.

"I don't know, maybe a clue related to Max." Danno poked his head out of the room. "Hey! Let's get him back on those sedatives and full pain killer dose again!." He didn't wait for a response before going back to his bedside. "You've done enough friend."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I don't get it. Why would Chin want us to keep watch on Max of all people?" Steve pondered.

"It doesn't track, he's harmless and squeaky. He would never be involved in something like this." Kono agreed.

"Well it means something. Chin was adamant." Danny argued over the video link.

"We have to take into consideration Chin's condition. High prolonged fever, severely beaten with numerous broken bones and burns and they literally took a power drill to him. We have to consider he was delirious and it doesn't mean anything." Steve countered.

"No, I don't think so Steve, he was determined to tell us Watch Max, verbatim." McGarret chewed his lip wheels turning.

"Okay, Kono go through his records, phone, bank, let's just see what we find. I'll go through his home, quietly. I still can't fit Max into this but we'll go with it for now." He shook his head frustrated.

"Fine but I don't like it." Kono consented with protest.

"Toast!"

"What?! I wasn't smoking grass!" The hacker pleaded. Steve chose to ignore it for now.

"You get whoever was watching that feed yet?"

"Ummmm..." They could hear rapid typing.

"Hurry up!" Steve started to storm over.

"Yeah here it is! Local coffee shop with free wi-fi."

"Great, couldn't have been a nice easy private address. Had to make us work for it."Alright keep working on that, I'm going to the coffee shop, see if we can get lucky with security cameras."

"Good luck!" It was a short drive to the coffee shop. Steve wasn't happy to see it though. The shop was unusually large and very busy. He flashed a badge at one of the managers and got easy access to the cameras he gratefully saw up in the corners. He pulled Kono up on the video chat hoping to keep things moving fast.

"Hey how's it going at the shop?"

"Not great. It would be real easy to get lost in the crowd here. I doubt our guy would have drawn any attention if he took a corner both and there are plenty of them. How goes it with Max's records?"

"Nothing stands out to me. It's all normal," she chuckled, "well not normal but nothing suspicious and pretty much all of his calls were to us, a few booked appointments, absolutely nothing worth watching."

"You are watching me?"

"Max." Kono gasped. Steve cringed.

"Why would you be looking into my records?" The hurt in his voice made Kono feel sick.

"Max we had to. Chin regained consciousness and the only thing he said was watch Max." Steve interjected.

"You think _I_ have something to do with this?"

"No Max, we don't but we think that there's a clue to Grace's location related to you."

"Hey Kono take a look at this footage. See someone you recognize?" She turned back to the screen frowning deeply.

"That's Sam White isn't it?"

"Yes it is. His face is the only one that pops up as an interest and from what I'm seeing, he was at this shop the same three days Chin was interrogated."

"That can't be coincidence."

"No it can't, especially when he only leaves at the same times the interrogator took a break because Chin was unconscious."

"I've got his address I can be there with you in fifteen minutes." Kono suggested.

"No, you keep working Chin's clue. I can handle White."

"Fine, make sure to get a few right crosses in for me."

"Will do Kono. Will do." He didn't take the time for courtesies as he left the coffee shop, jumping into Danny's camero, tires screeching as he pulled out towards White's home. It was nice, too nice. He was pissed as soon as he pulled up the driveway seeing the large sprawling home and the six figure sports car. This was his guy. No doubt. He didn't bother ringing the bell, he just kicked it in and savored the heavy damage the fancy door took.

"Hey! What do you think you're..." Sam White stormed toward him only to get an fierce right cross owed by Kono followed by an uppercut from Danny and a kick to the gut for himself. Sam wheezed and rolled as Steve lifted him up and sprawled him across the nearest table.

"We know you were the one watching the video feed. You sat back and sipped _coffee_ while Chin Ho Kelly, my family, my brother was tortured and all for what? Money!" Steve spat emphasising his point by slamming him against the table with each word.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Sam hissed.

" _Don't lie to me!_ I know you were at the coffee shop the feed was being fed to and you were present for every hour, every _day_ that Chin was assaulted. You only left when he was given a break. _I'm bringing you down._ " The look of fear sparked in Sam White's eyes was imensely satisfying to Steve as he dragged him in cuffs to the car.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews!**

Chapter 10

Piano music belted through the air as Max's mind was stuck in the facts failing to find the connections. They had searched his financials, phone records but there was nothing connecting himself, Chin, or the clue to where Grace was hidden. Kono was upstairs still at the smart table staring at it, but she was exhausted. They had all been refusing to rest until their entire o'hana was together and safe again. As she stood her eyes would slide closed for a second then she'd jerk, blink and try to reclaim her last coherent thought. The cycle repeated unchanged for a good half hour.

"Hey!" Kono jerked awake and hit the deck with a thud.

"Danny?" She groaned and scrubbed her head.

"Hey how long has it been since you slept?" He helped her up look even more haggard, with blackened circles under his eyes, unshaven face and greasy hair, than her.

"Well um, I don't remember. What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital with Chin Ho?"

"Ehhh, they said take time to eat sleep and shower or leave."

"So you left? Who's with Chin?"

"Steve is with him. Said he's letting Sam White sweat a little while longer before he squeezes that living daylights and information out of him." She smirked.

"You look awful. You _should_ eat something, and sleep."

"If you think it looks bad try _feeling_ like this but I can't sleep. Not while Grace is missing."

"We'll find her Danny. Promise brah."

"What is up with Max? It sounds like the piano could use a rescue."

"We can't figure out the link between him and Grace's location."

"This is because we are looking in the wrong direction." Danny and Kono nearly leapt out of their skin shocked by Max right behind them, piano playing till blatantly audible.

"Max, when did you get here? How are we still hearing piano?" They eyed him warily.

"Oh, I have this." He pulled a portable speaker out of his pocket which was vibrating with volume. "Sometimes I need to think when I'm away from my piano so I play air piano."

"What do you mean we're looking in the wrong direction?"

"It would be more logical that the clue leading to Grace is hidden in his own financials or phone calls and relates to me."

"Wait a minute," Kono muttered pulling up Chin's bank record again. "There was this one purchase that I thought was a little odd."

"What was it?" Danny leaned in to read the screen.

"It was a wrist watch. I thought it looked more like a watch you would choose Max and I remember seeing the box but not the watch when we searched the house."

"What did you think was so special about the watch?"

"It had a temperature gauge, alarm clocks, pedometer, but more importantly it had GPS."

Everything was heavy, too heavy. He couldn't move under all the weight. He could feel a growing ache. It was everywhere, pervading every fiber, every bone. He could hear muffled distorted sound but everything was too distant. There was groaning somewhere but he couldn't track it as the growing pain distracted him. He sucked in a sharp breath startled by a palm pressed to his forehead then cried out in pain from the action.

"Hey hey take it easy." He knew the voice but he could find the name. He couldn't think straight, couldn't formulate coherent thought. "Chin, buddy, c'mon wake up." He finally realized the moaning came from him. "There we go Chin, keep your eyes open."

"Whaaa?" He croaked confused realizing he'd opened his eyes after the fact.

"No don't talk yet, sip this first." Chin complied rotely as a straw was wiggled between his lips. The water was cool but not cold and glorious relief to his raw burning throat.

"Better?"

"Yeah." He still grimaced when speaking and tried to sit up higher only to grunt and yelp giving up quickly.

"Yeah, you don't want to move much right now, just sit tight I'll raise the bed a little." Steve clicked the button and raised the bed slowly but Chin still hissed as his body moved.

"Wh'ts...going on?" His head felt fuzzy. Just tracking Steve's movements took everything he had.

"You don't remember anything?" Steve looked worriedly at him.

"Can't...th'nk."

"Well you are on some pretty heavy meds. All you need to remember is it's over and everything's going to be okay." Steve reassured seeing him drooping quickly to sleep. He sat back pulling out his phone as it beeped eager not to disturb Chin's rest again.

 _We've got Grace. She seems fine but we're having her checked out. We're downstairs._ He felt an intense pressure he'd almost forgotten was there he'd held it so long suddenly release. He glanced back to Chin but he was deep asleep again.

"Sit tight buddy I'll be back." He whispered palming his forehead again one more time reassuring himself he'd be fine. "Call me if he wakes before I get back." He instructed the guard he had outside the door. He sprinted down the stairs to the pediatric wing. He could hear the high pitched wail of a little girl crying before he made it through the doors. His throat clenched in a knot seeing Danny clutching his daughter to his chest as she sobbed hysterically.

"Shhh, it's okay monkey, everything's okay now, it's all over." Danny cooed softly.

"Danno, she okay? Where was she?" He grabbed Danny's shoulder trying to get a better look at Grace but she was crushing herself against him and quivering.

"Yeah, she's just upset, but we're going to have a doc check her out just to be safe." Kono hovered close making phone calls he presumed informing relevant parties that she'd been found. He glanced at a nurse waiting patiently with a sympathetic look.

"Hey Grace, you're gonna be okay now. We've got you." Steve tried. Grace took a shuddering breath exhausted by the sobbing and began to settle.

"Wh-where's Uncle..." She gasped and hiccuped, "Uncle Chin."

"You can see him later okay monkey. We need to have the nice nurse check that you aren't hurt or sick." She sat back and he brushed her hair, damp with tears out of her face.

"I want to s-see Un-Uncle Ch-Chin." She sniffled.

"You can't right now monkey, not today. Now we need to go with this nice lady and let her give you a check up okay?"

"They hurt him didn't they? Those men hurt Uncle Chin because of me. They said they just w-wanted me but h-he wouldn't l-let th-them leave w-with me." Danny exhaled sharply and set her down kneeling in front of her then pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a serious migraine coming on.

"Yeah monkey, he's hurt but he'll be okay. This isn't your fault. Okay. You tell me you understand that this isn't your fault Grace." He anxiously brushed his fingers through her hair. Her lip quivered but after a moment she nodded.

"I understand Danno."

"Good, now we're going to go in there and get the check up, then you and me are going out for dinner and shave ice and then we're going home and getting some sleep okay?"

"Okay Danno." Steve sighed overwhelmed with relief and worked his way back to Chin's room and settled in for the long vigil.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey sorry it took so long to get this to you! Life became distracting. Working on the sequel still. Hope you liked it!**

Chapter 11

Chin languished in a half awareness. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the hospital. The team was hazy on details and he didn't have the energy to ask. He knew it was a long time and given the way his body felt over heavy and the deep throbbing ache in his broken bones he knew it would be longer yet.

"Hey, how ya doin today?" Chin jumped sharply and cringed his body protesting. "Hey easy, it's just me."

"Oh, aloha Danny."

"How're you doing today? I brought real food. I know what hospital food is like." Danny dragged a chair over and began pulling out foam cups of soup.

"Smells good." Chin smiled weakly but Danny was worried. It didn't seem to be a genuine smile and it hadn't gone unnoticed how easily he was spooked. He wasn't surprised given what the man had endured but he still didn't like seeing his friend so skiddish.

"It should be for what I paid. Cooked from scratch according to the waitress." Chin attempted a smirk at the half complaint half boast about the food. There was an awkward silence as Daniel sipped tentative at his cup of soup watching Chin stir his seemingly hypnotized by the movement. Danny was about halfway through his but Kelly still hadn't tried any. "You know you really should eat it. The doctor said you're still losing weight."

"I know. I'm sorry." Chin sighed.

"Don't be sorry about it bud. If soup doesn't sound good I"ll pick up whatever does sound good." Danny pushed a bottle of 7up to him pleased to seem him sip it eagerly. It was about the only thing they could get him to ingest willingly.

"I'm sorry. I try to eat, I just can't." There was another long silence. Chin looked gaunt and tense every time he saw him. Danny couldn't fight the pang of guilt stabbing through his chest. If it weren't for him Chin Ho wouldn't be in such bad shape.

"Nausea that bad? What about the soda, you keep that down good." Chin gave up stirring the soup and laid back turning away from Danny. He hated being seen like this by his team. He knew they never held it against him but he felt weak, feeble, like a shell of himself.

"How's Grace? She still doing okay?" It was a question he asked every day and always at a time when he wanted to divert away from himself.

"She's doing fine Chin. You did a great job protecting her." Truth was he was worried about Grace too. He'd been called twice by the principal because she'd punched out a student under unclear circumstances. Later he'd got her to confess she was trying to be tough so no one got hurt protecting her and was systematically taking out the school bullies. The school was granting a little leniency due to the special circumstances allowing her to be suspended for a few weeks instead of expelled entirely. He was planning on taking her away for a while. A father daughter trip to sort things out. Rachel had surrendered a good deal of control over the next few weeks for him to do whatever he felt was best for Grace as long as he agreed not to take her to court over the negligence that allowed her to be walking the highway alone.

"Good. That's good." They went quiet again for a while. A nurse came in to check Chin and administer more antibiotics and pain relievers. Danny felt his gut twist with guilt seeing him jump and subtly pull away from her as she walked about the completing her tasks. He had to find a way to fix this.

"Alright, if soup isn't something you can stomach what _do_ you think you could eat? Anything, I'll pick it up or have it delivered." He tried again once they were alone. Chin sighed pushing the cup of soup away and thought about it.

"Do you think you could get some Loco Moco...and coco puffs...if it's not too much trouble." He worked his jaw nervously afraid of being a burden but his stomach growled eagerly thinking about the meal.

"Fantastic, you need anything before I go?" Chin shook his head, neck feeling stiff again.

"I'm good. Think I'll take a nap." He settled deeper into the mattress with a wince. Danny paused by the door.

"You know, the doc said Grace wasn't malnourished, dehydrated, didn't even have a scratch. It could have taken us over a month to find her and she still would have been okay and using the gps watch you got for Max's birthday so we could find her. I'll never be able to repay for you this. You need anything you just say and it's yours." Chin chuckled for real this time.

"I would do it again, we all would Danny. You don't owe me anything."

"I know."

"Besides, you'll keep me together an take care of me till I get through this." Chin really started drifted with the pull of sleep.

"You're right buddy, we're gonna get you through this." Danny started outta the room feeling hopeful.

"Oh one more thing." Chin called blinking owlishly.

"What is it? You need something?" Chin shook his head with a smirk that made Danny nervous.

"Steve ordered me while I'm in the hospital to call you _Sherpa._ " He fell asleep with a grin hearing Danny leave grumbling. He was right; They were going to be fine.


End file.
